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In the English language, a modifier is a word, clause, or phrase that functions as an adjective or adverb, giving more information. Some of the most common modifier examples are adverbs such as: very / «muy»; slowly / “slowly”; only / “only”, “only”; adjectives such as: nice / “pleasant”; billiant / «brilliant». Quantifiers such as: a few / “a few”; many / «many».
Modifiers: definition and uses
Modifiers or modifiers are widely used in English, especially in writing. As the name implies, modifiers are words or phrases that “modify,” clarify, qualify, alter, or limit another word within the sentence.
Most modifiers are descriptive words like adjectives or adverbs, which provide more detail about the verbs or nouns in the sentence.
In general, modifiers are used to add additional information, explain, detail, or emphasize.
The proper use of modifiers is essential to write correctly in English and create fluent, clear texts without errors. Otherwise, modifiers can completely change the sense and meaning of a sentence or even distort it.
Types of modifiers
There are different types of modifiers depending on their position, meaning, and function within the sentence.
Premodifiers and Postmodifiers
Depending on their position within the sentence with respect to the nucleus or head , which is usually the main noun, modifiers are classified as:
- Premodifiers or premodifiers: these modifiers appear before the head of the sentence. They can be: articles; demonstrative, proper, descriptive and compound adjectives; and some adverbs.
- Postmodifiers or postmodifiers: they are the modifiers that are behind the nucleus of the sentence. They are usually adverbs of time, manner, place / direction. Although most commonly they are adverbs, they can also be adjectives, infinitives, dependent clauses, etc.
For example:
- This little cute teddy bear which you bought. / “This cute little teddy bear you bought.”
In this case, teddy bear is the nucleus of the sentence. Little and cute are premodifiers and which is a postmodifier.
Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
According to their meaning and importance in the sentence, the modifiers are divided into:
- Restrictive modifiers or restrictive modifiers: they are essential for the meaning of the sentence.
- Non restrictive modifiers or non-restrictive modifiers: they are elements that are included additionally in the sentence but are not essential.
For example:
- My friend who lives in Madrid is going to Barcelona tomorrow. / «My friend who lives in Madrid will go to Barcelona tomorrow».
- My friend Carlos, who lives in Madrid, is going to Barcelona tomorrow. / «My friend Carlos, who lives in Madrid, will go to Barcelona tomorrow».
In the first sentence of the example, the modifier, which appears underlined, is essential to identify which friend I am referring to. On the other hand, in the second sentence, the modifier is not essential, but rather provides extra information, because it is already known which friend it is.
Adjective and adverbial modifiers
Modifiers can fulfill the functions of:
- Adjectives or adjectives: modify nouns and pronouns.
- Adverbs or adverbs: modify verbs.
Adjective modifiers
Modifiers that function as adjectives may include:
- Single-word modifiers : that is, single-word modifiers.
- Articles: a, an / «un», «una»; the / «the, the».
- Common adjectives: cheap / “cheap”; big / “big”; nice / “pleasant”.
- Possessive determiners: my / «mi»; yours / “you, your”; his de ella, her / “su”; our / «our».
- Demonstrative determiners: this / “this, this”; that / “that, that”; those / “those, those”; these / “these, these”.
- Quantifiers: many / «many»; three / “three”; some / “some”.
- Interrogative adjectives: what / «what»; which / “which”.
- Adjective phrases or adjective phrases: they are modifiers that include two or more words.
- Phrases with an adjective: the very small / «el muy pequeño»; this really beautiful / “this really beautiful”.
- Phrases with prepositions ( prepositional phrases ): on the other side / “on the other side”; with the flower / «with the flower».
- Infinitive phrases ( infinitive phrases ): to forgive / “forgive”; to think / «to think».
Adverbial modifiers
When modifiers serve as adverbs, they mainly modify verbs, but also adjectives or other adverbs. This group may include:
- Single-word modifiers : they are adverbial modifiers that consist of a single word: quickly / “quickly”; carefully / “carefully”; really / “really”. For example: I woke up early . / “I woke up early”.
- Adverbial phrases : they are modifiers that include two or more words and modify the verb.
- Phrases with prepositions ( prepositional phrases ): in the corner / “in the corner”; without any help / «without any help».
- Infinitive phrases ( infinitive phrases ): to keep track of the progress / “to register progress”; to solve the problem / «to solve the problem».
- Phrases with an adverb and an intensifier: very carefully / “very carefully”; extremely quickly / “extremely fast”; really loudly / «really strong».
other modifiers
When the above modifiers are misused, modifiers known as misplaced modifiers , limiting modifiers , dangling modifiers , and ambiguous modifiers can arise.
misplaced modifiers
Generally, modifiers are placed near the words they modify. If they are placed too far apart, the meaning can be confused or wrong. For example:
- Dylan heard him when he whispered clearly . / “Dylan heard it when he clearly whispered to her.”
- Dylan heard him clearly when he whispered. / “Dylan heard it clearly when he whispered to her.”
In the first sentence the modifier is too far from the verb it modifies, which in this case is: heard / «heard». Not only does the meaning of the sentence change and it becomes confusing, but it also seems that it is modifying the verb whispered / «whispered». On the contrary, the second sentence conveys the message correctly and clearly.
Limiting modifiers
The limiting modifiers or limiting modifiers are those that place restrictions or limit, in some way, to the subject, be it a noun or a pronoun. If they are placed in the wrong position, they can totally change the meaning of the sentence. Some of them are: only / “only”, “only”; always / “always”; just / “only”; almost / “almost”; at first / «at first». For example:
- Noah wants water only . / “Noah wants only water.”
- Only Noah wants water . / “Only Noah wants water.”
As can be seen, by changing the position of the modifier, the sentences have totally different meanings. The first sentence implies that the only drink Noah wants is water. Instead, the second sentence means that Noah is the only person who wants water.
dangling modifiers
Dangling modifiers are words that are missing the noun, adjective, or verb they modify. Therefore, they are “hung” in the sentence. For example:
- To become a good writer, many books must be read. / “To become a good writer, one must read many books.”
- To become a good writer, you must read many books. / “To become a good writer, you must read a lot of books.”
In this case, the first sentence is missing the subject it modifies. Therefore, this sentence can be corrected simply by adding a subject.
Squinting or ambiguous modifiers
These modifiers make the meaning of the sentence ambiguous when they are in the wrong position. For example:
- Eating nuts quickly gives me a headache . / “Eating nuts quickly gives me a headache.”
- When I eat nuts, I quickly develop a headache . / “When I eat nuts, my head quickly starts to hurt.”
As can be seen in the first sentence, the position of the modifier gives the sentence a confusing meaning, which can be misinterpreted. It is not clear if I get a headache when I eat nuts in a hurry or if the headache occurs immediately after eating the nuts.
Examples of sentences with modifiers
Some examples of sentences with modifiers are:
- The wall is a bit thin. / “The wall is a bit thin.”
- Mary was really excited. / “Mary was really excited.”
- That man is very tall. / “That man is very tall”.
- The exam was quite difficult. / “The exam was quite difficult.”
- My niece is incredibly smart. / “My niece is incredibly smart.”
- We saw the two policemen when we were at the mall. / “We saw the two policemen when we were at the mall.”
- The old man with a white beard was giving the speech. / “The old man with the white beard was giving the speech.”
- That lady was beautifully dressed. / “That lady was splendidly dressed.”
- This player had an excellent strategy. / “This player had an excellent strategy.”
- Those patients were walking slowly. / “Those patients were walking slowly.”
- The movie was really amusing. / “The movie was really entertaining.”
- Eddie prefers to have black coffee and fresh-baked croissants. / “Eddie prefers black coffee and freshly baked croissants.”
- Jack is behaving strangely. / “Jack is behaving strangely.”
- Lizzy wrote a romantic poem. / “Lizzy wrote a romantic poem.”
- My brother who likes to dance tango will travel to Argentina. / «My brother who likes to dance tango will travel to Argentina».
Bibliography
- Sánchez Benedito, F. English Grammar . Complementary exercises . (2007). Spain. PearsonLongman.
- Piefke-Wagner, B. Practical English Grammar. (2019). Spain. SGEL
- Friar, L.; Araujo, E.; Waddell, D. Easy English Grammar. (2013). Spain. Vaughan Systems.
